Gio Gonzalez on getting his own shoe someday and the importance of nutrition

GLENDALE, CALIF. -- Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez stopped in Southern California last week to give a Jordan Brand Q&A at the Glendale Dick’s Sporting Goods with fellow brand athlete Chris Paul.

During the Q&A, Gonzalez talked about how there are only seven Jordan Brand athletes in all of Major League Baseball, so he has a fair amount of bragging rights. He joked about how being able to wear Jordan cleats on the field is even part of his gamesmanship -- opposing batters are always trying to sneak a look at his shoes, so he’ll make sure to pull the pants up and make a show of tying them, so his opponents are thinking about the kicks and not the next pitch that’s coming.

Afterward, Gio helped lead a local high school baseball team in a rooftop workout that was definitely no joke. I was only able to hang with the workout for about two-thirds of it, but I’m going to chalk that up to me not being 17 years old.

While talking to the high school team, Gonzalez stressed the importance of nutrition and rest as a baseball player, particularly a developing one. So I made sure to get his thoughts on the state of nutrition in the minor leagues, among other things.

You and Chris Paul have been talking about shoes all day. What cleats do you wear in-game?

So far, since I’ve been with Jordan, it’s been the 13s, the 6s, the 7s, the 29s, the Superfly 3s ...

So a wide range.

Wide range. [Jordan] give[s] us one [style] from the beginning [of the season] and one in the second half. So we have two pairs. They give us two choices: first-half spikes and then second-half spikes.

When are you going to get your own shoe, like Chis Paul? Mike Trout has his own shoe.

No, come on, now. That’s Mike Trout. That’s ... man, he’s one of a kind. I think that CP, he’s earned his stripes. He’s done his time. I’m still new to the brand, so me, I still have to earn my stripes and fly under the radar ... with time and patience, hopefully we’ll talk. [laughs]

You were talking about conditioning in the offseason versus the regular season. Do you change up your diet at all over the course of the year?

That’s crazy you mention that. I actually hired a nutritionist, a chef to work on that for me this year. It’s kinda like constantly keeping me in shape. What I wanted to do was gain weight while being flexible. So it’s not just putting on sluggish weight and slowing down my game.

Last year I was having a little bit of trouble trying to break through a -- how do you call this -- a sluggish mode here and there. Once I get through that good sixth inning, I was already starting to feel sluggish and slow. So I wanted to break through that this year, having endurance and energy. I guess what they say [is true]: you are what you eat, what you intake. You wouldn’t put junk in a Ferrari. So you gotta treat yourself [right].

So what does your diet look like right now?

[Now] it’s more chicken salad ... meat, chicken. Nothing with salt or anything like that. It’s just trying to gain weight [healthily]: just fruits and vegetables. Mix in some snacks and protein shakes and some smoothies.

What was it like back in the minor leagues, trying to get the nutrition that you needed?

Oh, it was impossible. Especially with the salary I was making. I had this funny story with my brother and my mom and my fiancee, where I used to tell her, I used to sleep on an airbed. I used to sleep in the backseat of a car. $20 was all I had for a good two weeks until my next paycheck.

Living in the West Coast, In-N-Out Burger was unbelievable. And then going off the dollar menu at McDonald’s or Taco Bell. I had to somehow survive. And luckily I was still young, so my body had time to recover. But once I came up [to MLB] I tried to minimize what I ate. Not eating anything absurd. But you adapt to it sometimes. Your body adapts to what you eat. But I wanted to put good nutrition, food and stuff like that. So I loaded up in the offseason [in the minors] with peanut butter and jelly, stuff that was going to give me protein.

Do you think MLB and MiLB should do more to ensure their minor leaguers are getting access to the food and nutrition they need?

I think it would be great [if they did]. There’s always the nutrition part, where you want your young pups to be eating right and coming up in the big leagues and lasting as long as they can in the big leagues. I think the average big leaguer now is four years and change, or something like that? Everything plays a role in the sport. Mentally, physically. Anything to get better, that’s just the way [the players are] looking at it.

I think meals [that are healthy] would be great [for the minor leaguers to have]. It sucked that ham and cheese sandwiches was our all-day meals [in the minors]. Lord forbid you didn’t want to eat another ham and cheese sandwich for the fifth day in a row. You had to snack on anything you can: a spoon of peanut butter, a banana strip or something like that. It was one of those freak things where you just worked your tail off til you got up [to MLB].

I used to tell kids all the time: a cup of water in the big leagues tastes so much better than a cup of water in the minor leagues.

My last nutrition question for you: is a hot dog a sandwich?

Is a hot dog a sandwich? Oh my god ... You can consider it ... It has a bun, doesn’t it? A sandwich kinda thing?

I think if you’re eating a hot dog ... I’d rather you eat a pretzel than a hot dog.